


The night we met

by svn_diamond



Category: Dynasty (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Soulmate AU, au where they have each other's first words on their arm, except it's written in detail and it's not just a 3 second flashback, it's their first meeting in 1x15, its pretty much canon compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 21:01:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15804498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/svn_diamond/pseuds/svn_diamond
Summary: And then she hears it, hears the words, clear as if there weren’t countless cars rushing by.“Bad driver’s license photo?” She freezes for a split second, and it feels like the blood has stopped coursing through her veins. “Trust me,” The stranger continues, a cheerful quirk in his voice. “Can’t be worse than mine.”[Falliam, Soulmates AU] [extended scene in 1x15]





	The night we met

**Author's Note:**

> I figured this pairing needed a soulmate AU, since it's a very common trope in fanfiction and I thought I'd give it a try. There's a few mentions of Culhane x Fallon but trust me, it's not important and it's very brief. I hope you guys enjoy this :)
> 
> (oh and there's also a reference to Pretty Woman because that movie is iconic and was actually referenced in Dynasty, too)

Her whole life, Fallon had made it her mission to not care too much about the soulmate tattoo on the inside of her upper arm. When she was a kid, she’d used to dream of meeting the one who will say those first words to her, she’d picture him, she’d picture their first meeting, and the scenarios would always change, but one thing was always consistent. Her soulmate was charming and polite and handsome, witty, funny yet romantic. But those were a little girl’s dreams. And Fallon soon ditched these naïve fantasies and left them where they belonged—in the past.

Her parents didn’t have matching marks. She actually hadn’t known this until her father told them one evening, when the three of them—their mother was long gone—were sitting at the dinner table. The air had felt heavy, then, and Fallon had seen her brother cast his gaze downwards. He had always mourned their parents’ divorce. Fallon on the other hand, was more concerned with the fact that her mother hadn’t bothered to keep in touch afterwards, as if she had just repressed the memory of ever having kids and never bothered to remember them again.

Fallon had suspected her parents weren’t soulmates, anyway. But since she couldn’t recall them ever talking about it, she had doubted it until definite confirmation—and now she had it. It felt like a hollow victory.

And even though Fallon doesn’t care about her mark, she still doesn’t want random people speculating. Although she’s not shy or an introvert by any means, and she loves the spotlight, this one detail she’d rather keep private. During interviews, meetings, parties or any kind of public appearance where her upper arm isn’t covered by her outfit, she covers the mark in foundation and is extra careful, just in case. Those stupid four little words, etched into her skin forever. She sometimes reads them mockingly and scoffs, as she dabs at them with a beauty blender.

 _‘Bad driver's license photo?’_ That’s the stupid sentence scribbled onto her arm forever. And she still asks herself, in what context would she ever hear those words? She’s rich, she doesn’t need to drive herself around. Since she was a little girl, they always had a chauffeur to drive their cars for them. So? What is the meaning of the words tattooed on her skin?

When Blake hires a new driver she feels a tug in her chest and anticipates their first meeting… hoping. But Culhane doesn’t say the words.

After a while, she kind of loses any hope, because she’d been through all favorable, driving-related situations in which she could meet him. Oh well.

The next years pass and she casually hooks up with Culhane, every time she bothers visiting the Carrington estate. Which, recently, hasn’t happened as much.

He has told her he loves her, yet she can’t bring herself to say it back. They break up—kind of? Were they even together? Fallon wonders. She doesn’t know when the friends-with-benefits line was crossed, she doesn’t remember him ever mentioning he wanted more yet here he is, declaring he loves her. Since when?

After she finds out the truth about Jeff, she figures she should get Culhane back, and it should be easy, right? Because he loves her, or so he likes to claim. And they fit together, and they’ll make it work, even if their soulmate marks aren’t the same.

She brings Culhane to the City Hall close to midnight, a perfect plan in her mind. But he shuts it down immediately.

As Fallon sits down on the bench, defeated, she feels vaguely bitter that she had to humiliate herself like that and still not get anything done. Forcing herself to get the words out only for him to ditch her, when she needed his help the most. She can’t afford not having another husband by tomorrow, else her plan goes down the drain. Fallon feels annoyance creep into her veins. Finally she had said the words he wanted to hear so badly and he _still_ isn’t happy with her. He _still_ isn’t content. What will it take? What the fuck does he want? Fallon frowns angrily. That was the last time. The last time she tries changing herself for anybody else, much less for him.

And then she hears it, hears the words, clear as if there weren’t countless cars rushing by.

“Bad driver’s license photo?” She freezes for a split second, and it feels like the blood has stopped coursing through her veins.

“Trust me,” The stranger continues, a cheerful quirk in his voice. “Can’t be worse than mine.”

He sits down and Fallon wonders if this is all just an elaborate hallucination, if he hadn’t really said those words at all and she simply imagined it. She glances at him and is taken aback, because, despite the average clothes he’s wearing, he’s obviously _so_ good looking. He offers her a crumpled tissue and she still can’t fully enjoy the feeling of finally meeting the one—it _must_ be him, who else would say that sentence—because she remembers that she has to keep her guard up, just in case his mark isn’t her first sentence to him.

She glances at the tissue, throat dry, while thinking of something snarky to say.

“Cute.” She says and mentally frowns. Dammit, she wanted to say something else. Curse his good looks.

His eyes widen a little but he hides it quickly and she doesn’t notice it. She waits for a split second and doesn’t even know what she expected—for him to jump up and yell that that’s what his tattoo said? Fallon swallows down her disappointment when he doesn’t say anything and continues.

“But it would take more than your diseased tissue to clean up the mess I’ve made.” She sees his shoulders slump and he leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. _He must’ve realized I didn’t say the same words as his mark_ , Fallon thinks while she glances at his jacket. _Well,_ she thinks, _it’s worth a shot_.

“Are you in the market?” He turns to look at her and she sees the golden twinkle of a streetlamp reflect in his—blue, she just notices—eyes.

“For what?” His brows furrow. Fallon smirks.

“The biggest payday of your life.” He shakes his head a little, half smiling but still confused. Fallon continues, seizing her chance.

“Guess I should explain a little more.”

“That would be ideal.” He chuckles warmly and she needs to repress her desire to mirror his laugh.

“It’s a long story, but I want to get out of a marriage without the groom knowing. And you could help me.” She throws him a hopeful glance, from under her lashes. He nods along, waiting for her to continue. “I looked up the laws of this state and bigamy is illegal. So if I’m already married to someone else before marrying him, that second marriage would be void.” He opens his mouth to say something, but Fallon quickly interrupts.

“And I’ll pay you, of course. More than you can imagine.” He laughs, shaking his head at her words. “You’re not going to tell me you’re already married, are you?” She asks, momentarily panicked.

“No, no, don’t worry. I just wanted to say…” He lets the words hang in the cool night air, teasing her, and Fallon is pleasantly surprised to find out that him making her wait doesn’t annoy her. “…I’m in.”

She’s sure her eyes must have widened comically; she hadn’t really expected him to agree so fast. “What, really?” She asks, incredulously.

“Yeah. Let’s do it.” He smiles.

A grin slowly blossoms on her lips. She knows she should probably not trust this random stranger, but is he _really_ a stranger? Fallon can’t help but be drawn in by the earnest quirk of his lips and his clear eyes.

“Excellent.”

He gets up and offers her a hand. “Shall we?” He jokes. After a moment’s hesitation, she takes it, rising up to her feet.

“We shall.” She plays along. They both make their way to the courthouse, making idle chitchat.

“So what’s your name, lucky stranger?” She asks, as he holds the door open for her. “Liam, Liam Ridley.” He offers, and Fallon wonders how can one person be so … carefree? Since she met him (probably less than 5 minutes ago) he’s smiled more than she has the entire week, and the fact that he doesn’t even seem to be forcing himself to do so is infuriating! Fallon can’t tell if she’s annoyed or fascinated.

The papers are dealt with in a significantly smaller amount of time than she expected, and frankly she’s a little shocked by the fact that someone is actually willing to help a couple get married at midnight, no questions asked. But she’s not about to complain.

After exiting the building, Fallon turns towards him and they watch each other for a few seconds, the purr of the cars seemingly quieter. A few beats of silence pass, where neither says anything and they just kind of stare at each other’s faces, and Fallon discovers that it’s not awkward at all. Before she has the chance to dwell on it anymore, she forces herself to snap out of it and not think about the enticing purse of his lips any longer.

“Listen, there’s more to the plan than this. You also have to come to the wedding tomorrow, but it’s a _liiittle_ bit more complicated than that. Before we dive into it, would 100k be enough?”

Liam watches her for a few seconds, stunned. “Oh, yes, of course.” He chuckles. “When you said you were going to pay me more than I could imagine you truly weren’t kidding.”

Fallon shrugs, not bothering to conceal her pleased smirk. Liam continues.

“Okay so? Tell me more about the plan. What do I have to do?” Liam asks. _He looks like an excited puppy. Cute,_ Fallon thinks and is instantly repulsed by her own sappy thoughts. “Where is the wedding taking place? Also, do I have to bring a plus one?”

“Well, here comes the interesting part.” Fallon says mysteriously, starting to walk down the alley at a leisurely pace. Liam follows, and their elbows softly brush from time to time. She glances at him from under the brow of her hat. “Since the wedding is going to be at the Carrington estate tomorrow, security will be very strict about checking IDs and you would need an actual invitation, in order to be allowed inside.”

Liam hums in agreement from beside her.

“And the invites were already sent more than a week ago, it’s too late for me to change the guest list or anything of the sort. I’ll be busy getting ready for the wedding, so I can’t exactly come rescue you from the security team at the front gate either.” Liam laughs at her words. “Luckily, a friend of mine needs a date for the wedding. So I’ll introduce you to Sam and you just have to pretend to be his date. Then, after the ceremony, I’ll sign the papers and then reveal the twist to Jeff and introduce you to everyone. Any questions?”

“No, I think I got it. But…how did you even come up with this plan? You must _really_ hate this guy.”

Fallon frowns. “Trust me, you have no idea.”

Liam nods, and decides to change the subject. “Should we switch numbers? Just in case?”

“Of course.” She offers him her phone and he quickly types in his number, saves it and gives it back to Fallon, who stops walking for a few seconds to put it back into her purse.

“Wait.” Fallon looks back at Liam, and his brows are furrowed in concern. “How are you going to get home? It’s way past midnight.”

“Oh.” Fallon glances around the deserted street for a few seconds.

“I could give you a ride, if you’d like. And that way you could also show me where I am supposed to be tomorrow.” Liam offers. He just met the woman who he’s pretty sure is his soulmate (she _did_ say 'Cute', didn't she?), and no one could blame him for wanting to spend more time with her, before they have to part, right? He already feels like just after he’ll get home, he’ll wake up and realize that this was all an elaborate dream.

“Sure.” Fallon actually smiles at him then, and his heart might have skipped a beat. They walk a bit and end up in front of an apartment complex, where his car is parked.

As he puts the key into the ignition, Liam explains that that’s where he lives and Fallon looks through the window up at the tall building, trying to see through the dark.

She gives him the directions and explains a bit more about the wedding situation, and Liam just listens, humming every once in a while, content to just hear her voice while he is driving through the rain.

Before he knows it, they make it to the front of the Carrington estate’s heavy gates and he stops the engine. Fallon gracefully slips out of the passenger seat and Liam hesitates, but tells her anyway:

“I would’ve done it for less.”

Fallon contemplates his gentle smile for a second.

“And I would’ve paid you more.”

A smirk tugs at her lips as she shuts the car’s door and disappears into the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and reviews are always appreciated and they make me very happy!


End file.
